


Acid Rain

by hymns



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 14:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hymns/pseuds/hymns
Summary: goro visits leblanc on a rainy night.





	Acid Rain

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this a year ago for a zine that uh... went downhill. so my portion was never printed.

Yongen-Jaya was best damp during a gray midday. Even the slightest drizzle drove at least a few people back into their homes and thinned out the already relatively desolate area of the city.

There were days when Goro didn’t even enter Leblanc. He would simply enjoy the quiet alleys, worlds apart from the busy hums of the station despite its proximity. However, the scent of rich coffee floating in the air and snaking down the streets often beckoned him to the café with the promise of warmth and momentary peace.

That night, in the gentle rain, that call was especially strong. Goro followed the dim streetlights to Leblanc and pushed the door open, his feet coming to a halt when he saw someone much shorter and younger than usual behind the counter.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” His polite façade took a moment to catch up with his surprise.

“Where I live? Yeah, it’s a shock, I know,” Akira teased.

“You’re funny.” He flashed a pleasant and obligatory smile, if only to signal that his comment was genuine. “You usually don’t come back until I’m about to leave. Though, I suppose I am here later than usual.”

Akira nodded and returned to cleaning the dishes. Without a look in the detective’s direction, he said, “This place is technically closed, you know.”

“Oh? I’m sorry, I opened the door without checking the sign. Force of habit.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Akira nudged his glasses up with the back of his hand. Goro, seemingly undeterred by his laser focus on the sponge and plate in his hand, stood in place and twirled a lock of hair between his fingers. He was used to Sojiro either striking up small conversation while brewing his coffee, or sensing he wanted space and allowing him comfortable silence. Somehow, this was different.

“It’s late, but do you want some coffee?”

Goro let out a breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding. “Sure. I probably won’t be sleeping tonight anyway.”

He took a seat at the bar and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. Morgana, seated beside him, twitched his tail defensively.

Akira smiled as he set two cups on the counter, pushing one in front of Goro. “I’m not sure how you take your coffee,” he said, and leaned forward with elbows on the counter and both hands around his cup.

“I’m sure I’ll like it just fine.”

Morgana eyed the two—especially Goro—cautiously before hopping from the stool and relocating to one of the booths.

“So, what were you doing this late? Fighting crime?”

“My, you really do say the strangest things!” Goro smiled and laughed an appropriate amount, according to how he read social situations, before furthering the conversation. “I was going over the Phantom Thieves case, actually. We’re still not quite at a turning point.”

Goro sighed as he took a sip of his coffee. Despite his ever-languid movements and the smoothness of his voice, Akira swore he saw the faintest of shadows under the detective’s eyes.

“You work really hard, huh?”

Goro was struck by the sudden sincerity in Akira’s voice, and lowered his eyes into his cup so that he could focus on drinking his coffee instead. It was suddenly bitter on his tongue.

Morgana grumbled from the nearby booth.

“I do my best.”

“You might not be as popular with the ladies with bags under your eyes, though.”

“I’ll make sure to pass that along to my supervisors.”

The intimate interior of the café and gentle silence put him at ease, and he could feel the tense muscles in his shoulders beginning to relax.

When Goro could see the bottom of his cup, he realized how much time had passed. He stood, watching as Akira made his way over from the other side of the counter.

“I should leave before I miss the last train.”

“That’s too bad. I was enjoying this.” Stopping perhaps a bit _too_ close to Goro, Akira crossed his arms and leaned his hip against the counter.

The rain banged against the roof with a growing ferocity, each drop seeming to carve oxygen out of the room until Goro feared for his lungs.

“…Yes, I suppose some company isn’t so bad every so often.”

Goro jumped when he felt the weight and slight warmth of another hand on top of his through his glove. He desperately searched Akira’s face for some sort of explanation, but came up short. At the very least, he could tell Akira wasn’t mocking him.

This shouldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening, and yet Akira’s hand on his was so gentle, and his eyes were so earnest, and his scent of coffee was so calming.

Goro weighed his options as the other boy leaned closer, but as soon as he was _almost_ close enough, Goro’s hands shot up and landed on his chest, keeping him at bay.

“Maybe we… shouldn’t.”

“Why?”

The phrase _sleeping with the enemy_ jumped to Goro’s tongue, just behind his teeth, but he bit it back.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.”

“Right, like you wouldn’t tell your friends that… _this_ happened.”

“Why would I? I already know what they’d say. I know how to keep a secret.”

A morbid curiosity urged Goro to inquire what the Phantom Thieves would say, but he restrained himself. “A secret, is it?”

“Just let me kiss you already.”

“I… Alright.”

He hated to admit to himself how charming Akira was. And beyond that, sickeningly considerate. When their lips first met, Goro’s tightened into a thin line on instinct. But Akira was patient, and he pulled back the most miniscule amount, as if to give Goro a way out, even after his rather forceful command. This close, the scent of Leblanc’s coffee that mixed with Akira’s shampoo made Goro grow fond in the most repulsive of ways.

The entire situation muddied his thoughts. Slowly, tentatively, Goro’s relaxed his mouth, and he felt Akira’s hand slowly cup the back of his neck, as if trying to gain the trust of a feral animal.

As they parted, the detective refused to look Akira in the eye, opting instead to hide his head between the other’s neck and shoulder. Goro rested his cheek against Akira’s shoulder and wondered if the other boy could feel the strange sorrow covering him like a thin membrane, blocking them from directly connecting as he squeezed his eyes shut.


End file.
